SUMMER IS HERE...

I hope you like the new summer header.

 It is a beach out of my imagination that I wish I was sitting on right now 

and I left a lot of room so you all could join me.

Happy summer days everyone.

  I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of the year. 

 The sunflower plant is thriving and will soon burst forth in full bloom. 

 I hope I won't regret where I planted it. 

 I hope that all who pass by 

will take in its beauty with their eyes and noses 

and not with their hands. 

 It has been known to happen around here

 from flowers to fences. 

The cosmos are coming along but the zinnia seeds

 that I planted are not seeming so lucky. 

 Everyone tells me how easy it is to grow from seeds 

but I have not had much luck in that department. 

 I tried finding plants at the nursery 

but they all were out of the large zinnias. 

 I ordered the seeds from Floret 

and they are some of the beautiful creations 

that they work so hard to create and perfect. 

 Only I could mess that up and, so far,

 it looks like I might have. 

 Time will tell.

The old school phlox is on the verge 

of bursting into bloom. 

 Soon the garden walk 

will be surrounded by white clouds. 

 I just can't seem to mess 

these particular flowers up.  

They always come through year after year. 

 My kind of gardening.

A few additional items have been added 

to the parlor spring mantel 

so that it is ready for Independence Day festivities. 

 After that it will take on a more summery attitude.

We are enjoying the start

 of wonderful summer weather 

as it slowly works its way up

 to what is known around here

 as "complaining weather". 

 All seasons have one. 

  However, we are not quite there yet. 

 We are soaking up all the goodness while we can. 

Hope everyone is staying as cool as they can

 and enjoying it all.

I have had problems finding where my photos go.

 For some reason I have been unable to find them after I took them out of the camera 

and put them into the computer.  

Don't you just love how I describe the process?

 No wonder I never know what I am doing. 

Anyway, I thought it had been settled after a trip to the store where I bought the computer 

but I only remembered to tell the technician

 half of the problem 

so came home not being anymore 

well off than when I left.  

After many tries and many fails,

 it finally became clear what the problem was 

and I finally could fix it. 

And that is really saying something. 

 Now I have been noticing that an error occurs

 when I try to leave a comment on most blogs. 

 I haven't got a clue why 

but I will keep trying to find out the problem 

and be sure that I am reading them all anyway.

Until next time...

...xxoJudy...

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Love Your Creativity Link Party #258 | Life and Linda

SUCH IS LIFE...

As I was going over past thoughts in order to not repeat myself too much, 

I noticed that I have been signing off sometimes with "until next time". 

 The reason being that I am not always entirely sure when I will be back. 

 Whereas, in the past, I was posting once a week, come rain or shine,

 I am finding that I don't have as much new content to share these days 

and it doesn't do for me to show the same thing 

over and over again.

The last time I posted

 the garden was really just coming into its own...

...now the valerian is almost bloomed out 

and the coreopsis is so heavy with blossoms

 that it is hard to hold up its bright petals.  

The old school phlox is getting tall and will be ready to shine once again very soon. 

 Things they are a changing.

In life, as in all things, change is to be expected. 

 We all know that, but what we don't ever think about is how quickly change and time happens. 

 At first it seems that it is a long time away but then it sneaks up on you

 and you are left to wonder where did it all go?  

We all do, and will, go through it.  If we are lucky 

we have mostly good memories to show for it 

and that is what we should hold on to.  

If not, it can really take a toll on how you look

 at this amazing life you live 

and it can all go downhill pretty quickly.

  You might forget all the good things and quickly find that the bad things are taking center stage now. 

 The Captain and I are very lucky in the fact that we still have pretty good health

 in our golden (on the way to rust!) years. 

 He has been having trouble with his knee and has seen the doctor for it. 

The doc is amazed that he is only on one medication for his age.  That is to be celebrated.  

I get a shot in my eye which has now been carried up to 13 weeks apart,

that keeps me seeing and that is a very big celebration.

  The usual aches and pains associated with age are abundant

 and keep us from doing some things that a few short years ago were just taken for granted and although sometimes frustrating, we feel very fortunate.

 

My point in telling you all this is that very much like our garden,

 we are just going through the stages of life 

and will continue to flourish in spite of it all.

You have all seen the "Hoarder" shows on TV, 

I'm sure.  

They focus on someone who just can't seem to help keeping all that they can get their hands on

 and not letting go of any of it. 

 One certain item that I have never seen though, is this...

...does this not look like a hoarder's dream to you?   

Every time the Captain goes to Starbucks he gets two cups of coffee 

with these green sticks, so the coffee won't splash out on the ride home. 

 He has been a coffee aficionado 

since I have known him. 

 He will, and does, drink any cup of coffee

 he can get his hands on

 and loves every one of them. 

 I, on the other hand, don't usually like plain coffee

 but I do love a good caramel latte. 

 Unbeknownst to me,

 he has been saving these sticks. 

Why, you ask? 

 I can't even imagine

 in what world

 he might need these. 

 He can't answer that question either

 but today it gave him the opportunity to count them,

 times cups of coffee bought, 

and come up with a reason why we shouldn't go to Starbucks any more...$$$. 

 I have googled how to make a caramel latte and will soon try my hand at making them. 

 It will save money in the long run and, hopefully, do away with the Captain's hoarding problem.  

I seem to do enough of that for the both of us!

 (Just ask him).

Such is life as it goes 

round and round.

Until next time.  

Stay cool and enjoy the summer that is almost here.

...xxoJudy... 

I have added some new paintings here,

 one which has actually turned out to be frame worthy.

  It will stay until something better might come along.

Sharing today at :

Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda